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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. game — a match
  3. track — a path
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fall — to drop
  6. lie — to recline
  7. wake — a trail
  8. game — wild animals
  9. bat — the animal
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. pit — in a race
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. pit — a hole
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. fall — the season
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. track — to keep track
  24. game — a kind of play

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com